We explain every GNU/Linux command by examples in this blog!

I like nautilus file manager as it allows me to access samba drive, ftp site etc, but when it comes to file manipulations, especially when I need to open multiple folders, I wish I could have it all in tabs like firefox.

Yes, I can now do it with pcmanfm. As I discover more about the pcmanfm, it is really lightweight and it is more than just a tabbed-browsing file manager.

Our goal is not to make PCMan File Manager powerful, but to make it “good enough”.

A quote from the author, explaining the concept of pcmanfm’s design. Pcmanfm concentrate on few casual needs for user who wants to manipulate files through file manager such as changing file mode and ownership, open files with selected application ( even with command lines ), bookmark on directories, open terminal at current directories, access directories as root, archiving and extracting of compressed files, and not to forget tabbed-browsing.

I would like to share some tips on using pcmanfm,

Open File
You can set a default application used to open a specified file, just right click on a file and select open with another programs, choose your application and set the check box. You can even type the command line instead of choosing Apps from a directories.

Set as wallpaper
As a Fluxbox user, we usually setting wallpaper by running the command fbsetbg,

fbsetbg mywapaper.png

Now you can set fbsetbg as default app for png image, with that now you can set the wallpaper by double click on the png image.

Command line
pcmanfm support open files by default application by running the command line,

pcmanfm bash_tutorial.pdf

The bash_tutorial.pdf will be open by pdfview if you set it as default application for pdf. It works as well as gnome-open.

File Mode and Ownership
To change the file permission mode, and its ownership, right click the file and choose properties, then choose permission tab.

Desktop
It allows you to set pcmanfm as desktop, and all the icons in ~/Desktop will be appear on the desktop. Select Edit -> Preferences , Desktop tab.

Tabbed-browsing
Middle click a folder will open it in a new tab, pressing + button or simple press ctrl+t to open a new tab.